September was slow for Airbus deliveries, increasing doubts about whether the manufacturer can meet its annual goals this year.
Can Airbus meet its goal?
According to a report from Reuters, Airbus
has only delivered 30 aircraft this month. There are still three more days left in September, and Airbus may deliver more planes between now and Monday, but it still remains a slow month for the manufacturer. In August, Airbus delivered 47 planes to 31 customers.
Photo: Airbus
Reuters shared that if the current pace is kept, then Airbus will deliver about 36 planes this month. This is a significant drop from September 2023, when Airbus delivered 55 planes.
So far this year, Airbus has delivered 477 planes, about 300 short of its revised annual target. With three months left in the year, the manufacturer would need to deliver an average of 100 each month to meet its goal. Previously, Airbus’ goal was to deliver 800 planes in 2024, but in July, that number was lowered to 770.
Industry experts are casting doubts over Airbus’ ability to meet the annual target. By the end of last September, the manufacturer had delivered 488 planes, 11 more than the current year-to-date total.
Why the drop?
According to Airbus, delays in deliveries of engines and other parts have slowed down the manufacturing processes. The engines specifically affect the Airbus A320 family, which is Airbus’ most popular aircraft family. GE, which manufactures engines for the A320 family, has said that its output in the third quarter would be higher than in Q2.
Photo: AstroVictor | Shutterstock
Affecting airlines
Earlier this week, Simple Flying reported that Breeze Airways was forced to push back the launch of two new routes because of delivery delays. Flights from New Orleans to Las Vegas were originally set to launch in February 2025, and service from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Now, the airline will launch the new flights in the fall.
Breeze told Simple Flying,
“We regret that we’ll have to delay the start of two routes: MSY – LAS (which was to launch on 2/5/25) and MSY – LAX (2/19/25) until the Fall.”
With the new routes, Breeze was planning on opening a base in New Orleans in the spring of next year. The opening of the base relied on the addition of new Airbus A220s, which have been delayed. As a result, the airline now plans to launch the New Orleans base in the fall of 2025.
Photo: Raleigh–Durham International Airport
Breeze was supposed to remove the Embraer E190s from commercial service by the end of summer. Now, the Brazilian aircraft will remain in operation into 2025.
“Previously, Breeze announced that all commercial flights would be operated with A220 aircraft by Fall 2024. Given this change, the airline will still be operating Embraer aircraft on a small minority of its seats (approximately 2.8%) through next summer.”
The E190s will not be officially retired until 2026, and in the meantime, will be used for charter operations.